Clip for fastening ornamental strips



May 10, 1960 @RANGER 2,935,775

CLIP FOR FASTENING ORNAMENTAL STRIPS Filed March 9, 1956 2 Sheets-Shee l aa FIG-4 d 3 umn 3a 3 Ylll/II, 211711111.

MV-bwl`0 V .Zione/ rfi/7er May 10, 1960 L. GRANGER 2,935,775

CLIP FOR FASTENING ORNAMENTAL STRIPS Filed March 9, 1956 2 sheets-sheet 2 @www f ,mee frayer United States Patent O CLIP Fon FASTENING ORNAMENTAL srRrrs Lionel Granger, Saint-Mande, France, assignor to Anciens Etablissements Bac, Vincennes (Seine), France, a corporation of France Application March 9, 1956, Serial No. 570,628 Claims priority, application France August 24, 1955 4 Claims. (Cl. 24-73) The 'present invention relates to a resilient clip for instantaneously securing strips for ornamental purposes of any kind, for instance on motor cars, pieces of furniture, household apparatus, etc. 'I'he invention, more particularly, relates to clips for securing strips of any crosssection, madeof any material and to be applied on panels even when one side only of the panel is accessible. The clipitself may be set andsecured without it being necessary to havev any access to the back face of the panel. This clip may also be used for securing light articles, such as ashtrays or ornaments in the bodies of motorcars, or in particular pieces of furniture or radio sets.

According to the invention, the clip is characterized by two resilient branches adapted both to be positioned on one side of the panel to be adorned and ensuring by their provisional iiexure the insertion of the profiled edges ofthe strip or articleto be secured, over said branches aswell as over the head of the clip, the head of said clip being located on the same side of the panel as the aforesaid branches, but opposite said branches with respect to the point where the clip is.secured to the panel.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, from a consideration of the following description of some specific embodiments of the invention, shown by way of examples in the accompanying drawings, in which: f

Fig. 1 is a section of a clip and a strip, taken along the line X-X of Fig.y 2,

Fig. 2 shows the clip set in place without the strip, as seen in the direction of the arrow 1I of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 shows the same clip as seen in the direction of the arrow III of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 shows the securing cup alone,

Fig. 4a is a sectional view of the cup, the branches of the clip and the fastening screw, taken along the axis of the latter and along the line II-III of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 shows a modification of the clip shown in Figs. l-4a before being set and locked on a panel,

Fig. 6 is a view similar to that of Fig. 5 showing in broken lines the clip after it has been pivoted into locked position,

Fig. 7 is a section taken along the line VlI-VII of Fig. 5 showing, in addition, a strip before (broken lines) and after (full lines) it is set in place on the clip,

Figs. 8, 8a and 8b show, on a larger scale, the wing piece in sectional view transverse to the branches of the clip, in plan view, and in sectional view taken along the line VIIIb-VlIIb of Fig. 8 respectively, and

Fig. 9 shows a plan view of a panel, provided with an aperture having a circular middle section and two diametrically opposed rectangular extensions.

Referring first to Figs. l to 4a, 1 is a metal sheet on which a screw 2 is secured and holds a special stamped piece 3, the middle portion of which is cupped in order to accommodate the head of the screw and the peripheral I'portion of which is formed with two diametrically opposed lugs 3a bent so as to form a retaining groove for the two branches 4 of a clip; the latter is made of one 2,935,775 Patented May 10, 1960 piece namely a length of resilient metal wire suitably bent; in the embodiment illustrated, each branch of this wire has in its planar central portion gripped by the screw 2, a rounded portion 5a mating with the. groove 3, the

5 branches k4 are united together on one side of the central portion by the transverse loop 5 and each is terminated on the opposite side of the central portion by a branch 6 diverging with respect to the axis of symmetry X-X of the central portion. Furthermore, the branches 6 are bent away from the plane of the planar central portion of the 'clip and each branch 6 is terminated by a crooked end portion 7. The loop 5 also is bent away from the plane of the central portion of the clip in such a manner as to provide a first portion 5b inclined outwardly of the clip and away from the plane of the central portion and a second end portion 5c bent back toward the axis of the central portion of the clip.

The clip being set in place (position shown in full lines of the drawings), the strip 8 to be secured is hooked by one of its gutter shaped portions 8a on the branches 6 of the clip. At this moment, the strip assumes a slanting position relative to the panel 1 (position shown in interrupted lines). By merely pressing upon the strip in the direction of the arrow Z and by virtue of the resiliency of the metal wire the clip is made of, the latter is distorted in the following manner: the branches 6 urged by their crooked end portions 7, slightly move apart to the position 6'-7' (interrupted lines on Fig. 2). By pressing heavily enough in the direction of the arrow Z, the gutter-shaped portion 8b is made to slide over beyond the transverse loop 5 of the clip. At this moment, upon a gentle pressure being exerted upon the strip 8 in the directionof the arrow Z', the gutter-shaped portion 8b snaps behind the loop of the clip at against the panel l. The former thrust in the direction of the arrow Z is now released and the clip tending to return back to its original position forces the gutter-shaped portion 8b to slide under the transverse loop 5. The strip `8 is now permanently'lockedV against the panel 1.

FigsfS, 6, 78, 8a, 8b and 9 show a modification of the invention in which the clip is not fastened by means of a screw, but by means of at least one additional wing piece connected to a central portion and adapted to lock the clip against the panel by a pivoting movement of said clip and wing piece on the axis of said central portion. In this modification, the clip again is made from a resilient wire with a transverse loop 5, central branches 4 and opposite branches 6 terminated in crooked Yend portions 7; the piece 3 of Figs. y1-4a here is replaced by a piece 11 stamped out of sheet metal or the like and formed with a central portion and with four bent wings pairwise diametrically opposed; two wings 11a serving for securing the piece 11 to the clip when said wings 11a `are rolled over both branches 4 of the clip (Fig. 8) the other two wings 12 are bent downward and outward relative to piece 11 and the axis thereof, and are intended to secure the assembly of piece 11, wings 11a and the clip thus obtained to the panel l, as will appear from the following description (see, inter alia, Figs. 6 to 9). it will be noted that, as shown in Figs. 8 and 8b, the distance 12a between the under surface of piece 11 and the upper surface of bent pieces 12 must correspond substan- .tially to the thickness of panel 1 (Figs. 7, 8, 8b). This 1, the piece 11 holding the clip and associated parts by means of curved extensions 11a (Fig. 8) is set on top of panel 1, with the extensions or wings 12 facing the perforations Y1i) of the panel; wings `12 and side walls 12b then pass through the corresponding perforation 10 of the panel, when the upper surface of the wings 12 come levell with the bottom surface of the panel 1; thereafter, it is sufficient to rotate the clip and the piece 11 as a unit, around the axis of piece 11, a sulcient amount, say over an angle of about 45 degrees, to bring the wings 12 under the unperforated surface of panel 1 (seearrow W in Fig. 6), which locks piece 11 and the clip attached thereto on the panel.

Fig. 7 shows the manner in which, afterthe piece 11 and the clip have been locked onto the panel 1, the strip 8 may be mounted on the clip; strip 8 is Yshown before mounting7 in broken lines, and after mounting in full lines. This mounting operation is effected by the mere application of pressure on ends 6 and then on loop 5 through strip 8, and the steps required for this operation are the same as those described with respect to the mounting of strip 8 on the clip in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. l-4a; repetition is unnecessary.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from `the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

v1. A resilient clip for fastening ornamental strips to a supporting surface, the cross-section of the ornamental strips being generally U-shaped, the ends of the branches of the U being bent inwardly, said clip being constituted by a resilient metal wire folded in such a manner as to form a loop with two diverging branches having central portions and terminal portions having outwardly crooked ends, the central portion of said clip being planar while the branches are bent away from the plane of said central planar portion, the central portions of said two branches at the central portion of said clip being separate and away from each other and in the plane of said central planar portion, said loop also being bent away from said plane, the top portion of said loop being inclined upwardly and inwardly with respect to said central portion, fastening means separating said central portions of said branches and being provided for securing said central portion of said clip to said supporting surface, whereby the strip to be secured may be engaged by lateral pressure of one side thereof against the crooked ends of the clip and top pressure of the opposite side against the inclined portion of the clip loop.

2. A clip according to claim 1, wherein said fastening means are constituted by a screw adapted to be screwed into said supporting surface, and a cup piece inserted between the head of said screw and the central portion of the clip.

3. A clip according to claim l, wherein said central planar portion of said clip is circular in shape, and wherein said fastening means are constituted by a screw adapted to be screwed into said supporting surface, and a cup piece also circular in shape for accommodating said circular portion of said clip, said cup piece being inserted between said central portion of said clip and the head of said screw.

l4. A clip according to claim 2, in which said cup piece has a cupped central portion adapted to accommodate the head of said screw, and two peripheral, diametrically opposed grooves adapted to receive and retain said central portions of the two branches.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

